Salk's polio vaccine called safe 57 years ago today

A youngster receives the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk, who'd go on to found the Salk Institute in La Jolla. Salk Institute

Tip of the hat to the Salk Institute in La Jolla for reminding us that it was 57 years ago today -- April 12, 1955 -- that the polio vaccine developed by the late Jonas Salk was found to be 90 percent effective.

The message was delivered by Dr. Thomas Francis, Jr., director of the Poliomyelitis Vaccine Evaluation Center at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He said that the vaccine was not only effective, but safe and potent.

The announcement was part of an historic scientific push that basically wiped out polio. In the years before the vaccine was introduced, it was common for up to 20,000 people to contract polio in the U.S. in a single year.

The Salk will celebrate the achievement on Thursday by screening the documentary, "The Shot Felt 'Round The World' for its staff. Here is a clip from the movie.